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Gracias a la Vida

"Gracias a la vida" (English: Thanks to life) is a song composed and first performed by Chilean musician Violeta Parra, one of the artists who set the basis for the movement known as Nueva Canción. It was released in Las Últimas Composiciones (1966), the last album Parra published before committing suicide in 1967.

The song is one of Parra's most renowned and is performed throughout the world, and remains as one of the most covered Latin American songs in history. The song was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.

Folk singer Joan Baez brought the song to the American audiences in 1974 when she included a cover of the song on her Spanish language album of the same name. It remains a concert staple of Baez' to this day.

Finnish singer Arja Saijonmaa recorded this song in both Finnish (Miten voin kyllin kiittää) and Swedish (Jag vill tacka livet). Her Swedish interpretation is one of the most well-known of her Swedish-language oeuvres, and she sung it during Olof Palme's funeral in March 1986. Marie Bergmann also recorded a Swedish version of "Jag vill tacka livet" on her album Hjärtats Lust in 1981.

The intention of Warner Music, is edit the song internationally in both physical and digital format, is available on May 4, 2010. The profits from their sale went to Habitat for Humanity, which works to provide housing to families in need in various countries, including Chile.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu (in hispanicized spelling, Spanish pronunciation:[ˈmatʃu ˈpiktʃu]) or Machu Pikchu (Quechuamachu old, old person, pikchu peak; mountain or prominence with a broad base which ends in sharp peaks, "old peak", pronunciation [ˈmɑtʃu ˈpixtʃu]) is a 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970ft)above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru.

It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley which is 80 kilometres (50mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" (a title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba), it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization.

The Incas built the estate around 1450, but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like. By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored; restoration continues today.

Gracias

Gracias (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈɡɾasjas]) is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and is the capital of Lempira Department.

It has a population of approximately 50,000 people (12,000 in the urban center). It is found in the mountainous centre of western Honduras.

History

The word gracias means "thanks" in Spanish. It is said that upon arriving at the site of the city of Gracias, the Spanish explorers, tired after having trekked through the mountainous terrain, said "Gracias a Dios hemos llegado a tierra plana," meaning "Thank God we have arrived at flat land."

Geography

Elevation ranges from roughly 800 meters at the town square to 2,870 meters at the peak of Montaña Celaque (also known as Cerro Las Minas). Climate is greatly influenced by elevation, with the low-lying portions having a wet-dry (monsoonal) pattern. Montaña Celaque is the highest mountain and largest cloud forest in Honduras, and is protected through Celaque Mountain National Park.

Machu Picchu

I'm putting your patience to the test.I'm putting your body on the line, for less.And didn't you know there was a choice?It's never yours but someone elses voice.Slippin' your body through the street.I'm sending your girlfriends to the night, for cheat.Wearing a jacket, made of meat.Sending a letter waved with walls so sweet.And now you've heard that...Waves turn to grey.Life in the shade.A violent cloud.And that's on USA.Bad moon's on the rise,Window's in the sky.I'm just trying' to find...A mountain I can climb.I'm putting your patience to the test.I'm putting your body on the line, for less.And didn't you know there was a choice?It's never yours but someone elses voice.And now you've seen that...Waltz on the grey.Life in the shade.A violent cloud,And that's on USA.Born on the rise.Circles in the skies.I'm just tryin' to find...A mountain I can climb.Tell us, are you gonna tell us?Why do we feel so jealous?Why do we feel so silent?Why is it always silent?(I didn't want to ask you baby, I didn't want you to suffer , and everybody is singing .... )Why are you waiting? By the door...Life turns to dust,And waiting turns to rust.Gossip is a truth.A little bit for the lie you took.And why do you look surprised?Ever since I'm in the skies.I'm just tryin' to find,